Automobile manufacturers reduced their vehicle fuel consumption, and consequently CO2 emissions, significantly in 2008. In fact, some manufacturers have obtained reductions four to five times greater than others, demonstrating the ample margin available to the automobile industry in the manufacture of less continaminating vehicles.
As such, the findings published today by Transport & Environment (T&E), organization of which Ecologistas en Accion is a member, demonstrate that the average emissions of vehicles sold in Europe in 2008 by BMW and Mazda have been reduced by 10% and 8.2% respectively, although it should be noted that this latter brand came off a starting point of very high emissions.
Nevertheless, nine of the fourteen top automobile manufacturers remained below 4% [1].
Clearly, it’s very important to take into account the starting point: in 2008, the least emitting vehicles were sold by Fiat, followed by PSA Peugeot-Citroën y Renault. At the other end of the spectrum are brands like Daimler, Nissan, Volkswagen or Mazda, who in that order, build the most contaminating vehicles.
The average decline of emissions from cars sold in Europe is 3.3% (going from 158.7 g/km a year before to 153.5 g/km in 2008). With regards to Spain, these same emissions in 2008 were 148 g/km, a reduction of 3.4% from 2007. It should be pointed out that countries like Denmark (8.3% reduction in emissions between 2007 and 2008) or Finland (8.2%) are precisely the states that have established clearer fiscal measures to reduce CO2 emissions, sharply indicating the right path for the rest to follow.
Keep in mind that the european rules approved at the end of 2008 attaches binding objectives for the average CO2 emissions of each manufacturer, specifically a limit of 130 g/km by 2015, a goal that organizations such as Greenpeace and Ecologistas en Accion always considered unambitious. According to the report presented today, the notable differences in the output of the different automobile manufacturers show that the goal is easily and quickly attainable when there is the desire to do so, and that it should have been much more audacious when the time came to call for the restrictions. Indeed, brands like Fiat or PSA Peugeot-Citroën are already below 140 g/km, the former being the closest to achieving its goals by 2015. However, despite having lower emissions than PSA Peugeot-Citroën, Fiat is ranked 4th among the companies closest to their 2015 target because they build vehicles that are 160 kg lighter than those of PSA and as such are subject to more ambitious goals [2].
Even with it’s limitations, the new EU legislation is already having an impact. Falling average global CO2 emissions can not tied only to the financial crisis, high fuel prices or changes in consumer behavior, given that the reductions have not been uniform across brands.
For both environmental organizations, the legislation’s positive impact on cars is further evidence that it is necessary to attach legally binding objectives to vans and trucks, which are responsible for almost half the CO2 emissions on the road.
[1] The report also analyzes several strategies by the automobile manufacturers to reduce their average emissions. Ford got rid of Jaguar and Landrover, both high emitters which alone represented more than half of the company’s reductions. Other manufacturers, such as the Volkswagen Group, along with Toyota and Honda, do not offer the most efficient technology across the board, but rather only a few select models. The BMW Group, which registered the highest improvements for the 2nd consecutive year – from a starting point of very high emissions – offers their Efficient Dynamics technology across their full range of products.
[2] The European CO2 particle emissions legislation for automobiles attaches a target for each company based on the average weight of their commercial fleet. This system, which encountered strong opposition from the environmental NGO’s, creates a perverse incentive for the manufacturers to increase the weight of their products and therefore have less effort required of them by the legislation. For more information: http://www.greenpeace.org/espana/reports/por-que-el-peso-y-no-el-tama.pdf
